Free The Wicked by Thea Harrison

her hip.
    He lit her world on fire. Everything burned with incandescent light.
    She wanted to touch his hair to find out if it was as soft as it looked. She wanted to touch him. Her fingers opened and closed in fists. The hard shackles of his hands prevented her from touching him the way she needed to. All she could do was squeeze his leg between hers, arch against his body and kiss him back, so she did, while her heart took off on a manic gallop, running as fast as it could straight toward him.
    His breath came and went rapidly, his wide chest working like a bellows. He drew back and stared at her, his strange, golden-amber-and-black gaze fierce. Along with the muscles of his lean body, the lines of his face had sharpened.
    The realization crept in that she stared at an entirely dangerous man, and she had no idea what he would do next.
    She also had no idea what she would do next.
    “You could always just lock the door,” she whispered. Goodness, the things that fell out of her mouth on this trip.
    His face blazed. Looking utterly barbaric, he ground his hips against hers. It tore a ragged cry out of her, because she had never felt like this before, never. Not with any of her dates or former lovers. Normally she was a calm, considered person, a bit of a nerd if she were to be quite honest, but now a strange, crazed creature had taken over her body.
    “Yo!” Bailey pounded on the door again. “The crew’s starting to arrive.”
    He bared his teeth. He looked utterly savage. “I said I’m on my way!”
    “Take your time,” said Bailey. The other woman sounded extremely cheerful. “Just letting you know.”
    He hissed in the direction of the door. “Go the fuck away.”
    Olivia had focused her attention on the rapid pulse beating at the base of his strong jaw. She muttered, “Would you mind if I bit you?”
    Wait, who just said that?
    He released one of her wrists to yank his fingers violently through his speckled hair. “ God . Damn . Yes . I mean no, I don’t mind. Yes , you should bite me. As many times as you want.” He thrust a stiffened finger under her nose. “We’re going to continue this very soon. Got that, Olivia?”
    She nodded drunkenly, staring at the finger. He kissed her again, swiftly and hard, and then with a growl he shoved away from her and the wall and strode out of the cabin.
    Left to her own devices, her legs wouldn’t support her. She slid into a shaking heap. Astonished euphoria sang a chorus and tap-danced in her veins.
    Julian had been right. This had, indeed, turned into an interesting evening.
    Fucking fuckers.
    She clapped both hands over her face and burst out laughing. It sounded hysterical even to her own ears.
    Slowly sanity set in, along with a clash of conflicting emotions that ricocheted like brightly colored billiard balls around in her head. She shoved to her feet and located Sebastian’s bathroom. By general standards it was miniscule, just a small basin, toilet and a shower, but it was polished clean and it had the huge advantage of being private.
    Or so she thought.
    As she splashed cold water on her face, Phaedra solidified beside her. The Djinn announced, “I am ready for small talk now.”
    Olivia jerked upright and swiped at her dripping chin with the back of one hand. “ What ? No!”
    Phaedra gave her an exasperated look and began to dematerialize.
    “Phaedra, I’m sorry. Hold on a minute.” As the Djinn paused, her form half-insubstantial, Olivia patted her face dry with Sebastian’s hand towel. The cloth smelled freshly laundered. She folded it neatly on the rail and turned to Phaedra. “I’m rattled and preoccupied, and you startled me. I really didn’t mean to cut you off like that. I wanted to thank you, not only for what you did earlier outside, but for agreeing to surround Sebastian’s room with a barrier while Julian was on the ship.”
    Phaedra considered her with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Khalil, and, in some